Birds create a flutter at Sahar airport
A potential bird flu threat was averted at the international airport in Mumbai when a man, travelling from Bahrain, arrived amid the loud squawking of parrots coming from his luggage.
Passenger from Bahrain carrying 40 parrots sent back on the same flight
A potential bird flu threat was averted at the international airport in Mumbai on Wednesday when a man, travelling from Bahrain on the Gulf Air flight 056, arrived at the customs counter amid the loud squawking of parrots coming from his luggage.
Customs department officials, in consultation with wildlife authorities, refused to allow the exotic birds being brought into India thus and sent Mohammad Naushad packing along with his luggage-that included 40 Australian parrots-back to Bahrain on board the same airplane.
A wildlife official, who had been consulted by customs officials, said Naushad had two suitcases, two plastic bags and the two wooden crates carrying the parrots.
A senior customs official said, "The Union Animal Husbandry Ministry had issed a notification against the import of birds into India on August 10, 2007, in the wake of bird flu reported in different parts of the world."
The customs officials, after deliberating the course of action, figured that the birds would probably not survive till the next flight back scheduled for Bahrain later on Wednesday night, and hence directed Naushad to return to Bahrain on the same plane that left within a couple of hours.
Naushad had told customs officials that he planned to commercially exploit the high demand for the Rainbow Lorikeets, a variety of mid-sized parrots found in Australia, in Mumbai. A search of his luggage revealed large quantities of bird feed, apart from his personal effects.